As expected Jimmy was completely cleared of any charges in Ed's death. There was enough evidence that he was suicidal but nothing to prove that Jimmy had ignored his cries for help. For the most part Ed's family was understanding. Apparently he had been suicidal in the wake of the death of his wife and daughters. A fact Jimmy wished he had known sooner. Even though he knew there was nothing he could do. Jimmy still carried a great deal of guilt over Ed's death. He felt as if he had failed Breena, when he could not save Ed. Ed was gone now and Breena grew worse by the day. All the while Tori searched for her grandfather and mother, and feared the monster who lie in the living room. He felt as if his life was going to hell. He had the support of the team and that was a huge comfort. It really was. Unfortunately the team seemed to be distracted over some personal thing. They were constantly complaining about "the jerk" and telling Jimmy he was lucky that "That entitled brat was not around to make things worse." He figured it was just some rich kid somehow connected to a case and wondered why he was getting to everybody so intensely. He also wished they would stop whining so much about whoever it was. He knew that everybody was entitled to vent about their problems and that Breena's cancer actually wasn't the only bad thing in the world. Still he really wished they would gain some perspective or at least tell him why they were so angry at this person.

Tony rubbed his temples with his thumbs and let out a soft groan. The newspaper was spread out on the table before him. It came as a relief that it was a teacher's meeting day and all the school's were on a half day schedule. His job had let out just after eleven and the elementary schools did not open until noon. Marcy had opted just to keep her three home rather than get the two middle children off just in time for the oldest and the baby to get home. Since everybody was home she had decided to take her children to the zoo and a children's museum and she had offered to bring Tali along. Tali was only five months younger than Marcy's youngest and Tony knew that she needed friends her own age. She had always been extremely close to Victoria Palmer but given the circumstances play-dates were hard to schedule. Things would be even worse now that Ed was gone. The team were no longer speaking to him. So he had been forced to learn of Ed's death through the newspaper. He was extremely concerned for Jimmy but had reservations about reaching out. The team was still taking shifts with Jimmy in the evenings and the last thing he needed was to deal with that. Gibbs and Delilah were the only ones who had sympathy and neither were around this week. Gibbs had gone with Fornell to some event at Emily's boarding school and Delilah was back home visiting her father who had just had surgery. He hated that things were so tense he couldn't even speak with Jimmy on the phone. Especially since Jimmy wasn't even mad at him. It was all the team vilifying him for being afraid. He really could not handle being around Breena but he could help Jimmy out. He would have been more than willing to take Tori for a few hours or make grocery runs, but now he was afraid to even give his friend a call. He knew that he needed to man up and just tell them what had happened. Of course that was far easier said than done. Almost on cue his phone rang. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Gibbs calling him.

"DiNozzo"

"What can I do for you, Gibbs?"

"Did ya hear about Ed?"

"Yeah, shame isn't it?"

"Terrible"

"You going to get back for the funeral? It's tomorrow at four."

"Emily's got a long weekend coming up. I gave her my ticket and she is going to come home with Tobias, Friday and I am going to fly back tonight."

"OK. Any idea how Jimmy is holding up?"

"I haven't had the chance to speak with him but Ducky told me he was pretty shaken up."

"Do you think they will let me be at the funeral?"

"Jimmy and Ed's family are the only ones who are allowed to make that call."

"They are just resent me so much. I try to reason and they are refusing to hear me out."

"It may help if you took a shift with Breena."

"I can't"

"Well why not? If you are worried about Tali I can look after her for a few hours. It's no trouble at all."

"It's not Tali. At least not entirely."

"Is it because you there when Breena went down?"

"Sort of uh you've read my file right?"

"Of course I have. What does that have to do with this?"

"They put medical and familial records in there and my mom."

"She had the same cancer as Breena didn't she?"

"Almost identical"

"It's just too much isn't it?"

"That day I mean it was exactly the same as with my mom."

"Talk to me about it."

"She had been having headaches for a while but Senior kept saying that it was just her trying to get attention. Any doctor she saw either called her crazy or told her it was just hormones. We were at the movie house. They had a kid's day and there were all these booths around. She started to feel bad but I was just a kid and didn't understand. I made her stay. We were getting popcorn and she just went down. She had a seizure. I remember kicking her and begging her to get up. Some carny's drug me away and security moved her. They took her away in an ambulance. Senior was God only knows where on business. It was a week before he cared to show up. Some of the uh well my caretakers would go and see her but they wouldn't tell me anything. It was a few years before I even knew that they were going to the hospital. I thought she was already dead. Once he knew it was Cancer Senior put her through this really aggressive treatment even though the doctors knew it wouldn't do anything but make her more weak. I saw her twice before she died. The first time she was screaming in pain and had no idea who anyone was. The second time she couldn't even raise her arms and she kept telling me to pull the plug. I had no idea what that meant but I knew that it was bad. I said no and she called me a bastard. The last time I saw her she was doing great and I was sure she would get better. She didn't she died that night and again it was days before I saw Senior. Anytime I hear about somebody having a brain-tumor it all comes back. Breena really unnerved me. I am not sleeping right and I can barely get through the days anymore."

"Tony nobody expects you to do something that is just going to hurt you."

"They won't care. They will argue that is good for me."

"Well being uncaring to you is going to be bad for them."

"I am sure that Jimmy is pissed too. You can't attack him."

"Does Jimmy know about your mom?"

"Yes"

"Well then I am sure he understands your grief and doesn't want you to push your self."

"They are right though. I am a bastard. She was sick and I wouldn't let her leave. It's my fault that she died so young. I probably screwed up with Breena too."

"Tony you were eight years old and even if you had let her leave and insisted she go to the hospital it would have been too late."

The sound of the heart monitor beeping caught Jimmy's breath. Breena had spiked a high fever, one of her eyes had bulged out, and too top it off she was violently coughing up blood. He had been forced to have her rushed to the hospital. Even though he knew exactly what they would say. Sure enough the tumors were growing again. In this visit they had learned that her kidneys had totally shut down and her heart and liver were in rapid decline. She had suffered with a half hour long seizure and they had found that she had suffered a massive stroke at some point. Her body could no longer tolerate feeds or any extreme measures. All they could do for her was manage pain and do their best to keep her comfortable. It was going to happen at any time now but the longest the doctors would give her was seventy-two hours. The minister had come and said prayers over her for a peaceful transition. Jimmy had called her family down in Florida, her friends, and his surrogate family. Emergency plane tickets were being purchased and Jimmy had changed Ed's funeral plans. The burial would still be taking place that afternoon but his body was being laid to rest in Florida. Where his family was buried and Breena would be joining him before too long. The service in DC would be combined with Breena's after she passed and the funeral in Florida would take place soon after. It was all too much and in that moment Jimmy wished that he could be anybody else but himself.

The hospital was the last place in the world that Tony wanted to be but Breena was at the end and Jimmy was totally flipped out. Due to her condition Breena was only permitted one visitor at a time. Until they said that "it" would happen in a matter of minutes. Naturally Jimmy was spending as much time as possible with her. That left Tony and the others out in the waiting room. It wasn't long before he grew sick of the angry glares and cruel whispers. He found himself wandering aimlessly around the hospital's special hospice ward. He found himself outside of a room with the name "Z David" printed outside the door.

"No it can't be." Tony told himself.

Curiosity got the best of him and he ended up opening the door. The woman who occupied the bed was not the ninja he had loved and who had carried his child. Sure enough it was Ziva but she was not how he remembered her. She was skin and bones, her face was sunken, and her skin was a ghostly pale. She still had her hair but it was stiff and like her skin void of most of it's color. When the door opened she had opened her eyes. They were dull and she could only lift her eyelids halfway. An elderly woman who shared Ziva's Israeli features sat in an armchair beside the bed.

"She can't speak. Hasn't been able to for about six months now." The woman spoke.

"What's wrong with her?" Tony asked.

"It's a degenerative disorder. She was diagnosed after that accident you guys were in after her father died, Tony." The woman explained.

"How do you know me?" Tony asked.

"I am Ziva's, Aunt Nettie." Nettie replied.

"She I mean why didn't she tell me? The fire? How? I mean really." Tony rambled.

"She was in denial and the pregnancy made it even worse. First thing this illness takes in most cases is fertility. She kept saying it was a mistake but it got really bad after she delivered. She lasted a lot longer than they said she would but it was not good time." Nettie explained.

"The fire? They said she died." Tony spat out.

"She was in the hospital that night. That was when we were told it was in end stage. She could use adaptive technology at the time and her last request was to come here to die." Nettie explained.

"Does she know where, Tali is?" Tony asked.

She doesn't know about the fire. Just that Tali is with family." Nettie explained.

"Why didn't she tell me about Tali? I would have raised her and brought Ziva to stay with me at the end. I could have even relocated to Israel." Tony explained.

"The disease Ziva had it is genetic and there is a chance that Tali has it. Ziva was too afraid to get her tested for obvious reasons." Nettie explained.

"What's it called? I can get her checked out." Tony insisted.

"It's a fairly new disorder. At least the name is new. The doctor who treated her said that most cases are misdiagnosed as either ALS or Huntington's. It's more common in Israel than it is here. She is only the third recorded case in America and there are only about ten in Israel. Ziva was lucky enough to be in the care of one of specialists. Her doctor in Israel was the first to discover it and hers in America was the one to finally give it a name. Like I said it's rare. Which makes it all the more astonishing that Ziva knew somebody with the disorder. The namesake actually. He likened it to simultaneously winning the lottery and being struck by lighting. Oh I am sorry for rambling. I am just having a hard time and it's nice to see somebody she knew. I should have called but I just can't. It was too much." Nettie rambled.

"I understand" Tony assured.

"It was your boss Jenny who had the disease." Nettie replied.

"I have to go." Tony whispered, he needed to get out of that room and fast.

Tony let the door close behind him. He was beyond shell shocked. This was why Jenny had set up her death and it killed him that Ziva had to suffer the same fate. That Tali may end up in the same situation one day. All this on top of Breena being at the end and the team's treatment of him. He wished that it were him in Ziva or Breena's place. His world was crashing down and unlike Jimmy there was no sympathy for as worthless brat like him.

"What's wrong, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"Gibbs what are you doing here? So soon?" Tony asked.

"I commissioned a private jet. When I got the news." Gibbs replied.

"How?" Tony asked.

"Bill Gates owed me a favor. I can't talk about it. Now what's going on with you?" Tony asked.

"Ziva's dying. From Sheppard's Syndrome." Tony replied.

"Shit!" Gibbs cursed slamming his fist into the wall, not caring about how Ziva had survived the fire or any other details.

A/N: Super long chapter but there was a lot to cover. Sorry for the bomb about Ziva but it is all part of the story. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.